Bridging The Gap, Eric and Calleigh
by MedicWarrickLvr
Summary: Will Eric lose Calleigh before they even have a chance? Will he tell her his secret? Bridges need to be repaired in more ways than one in this story!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't any of these characters.

**Authors note:** I'm working on a sequel to my last Warrick story, but promised some friends an Eric/Calleigh fic. I hope this will be a worthwhile read. Please submit reviews so I know you want to keep reading. This will be multiple chapters and will explore more with Eric and Calleigh with some surprises!

**Setting:** This takes place post "10-7". Eric has talked Calleigh into not quitting ballistics and she's thrown herself into her work to not dwell on John's death. She doesn't even like to talk about it.

_**Bridging the Gap**_

Chapter 1

Calleigh is listening to an old Eagles CD on her way to work and wondering why they don't make music like this anymore. She hates driving in the rain and is just trying to keep her mind off of how nasty the road is. Calleigh turns a corner and realizes a second too late that the bridge has washed out. Her car goes off the bridge and lands nose first in the small creek. Everything goes black for a few seconds and when Calleigh gets her senses back she looks around and is noticing water around her car……..the water doesn't look very deep. She breathes a sigh of relief and wills herself to think. She assesses the scene around her. Her car is nosed into the embankment. She thinks to herself that this is good because the car won't float downstream. She tries to open her door. It won't open. She breathes in deeply and tells herself not to panic. She wonders why she feels so short of breath when there is plenty of air. She reminds herself to slow her breathing down and not hyperventilate. She reaches to find her phone. Maybe she should call for help first. "Come on Cal!" she scolds herself. "Think like a CSI, not a victim!" Calleigh places the call to 911 and gives them her situation. They want her to stay on the phone but she tells them she can't, she has to call work and that everything is fine. She hangs up the phone and before she can make another call, she realizes that the water is rising around her. She tries her door again…………….. Nothing. She reaches over to the passenger door and tries to open it………….. Nothing. It won't budge. She feels something on her feet and looks down. "Oh my God! It's getting in the car!" she cries out. She realizes that she is breathing rapidly again and is close to panic. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She tells herself the paramedics will be there shortly…………she's beginning to feel a little dizzy and her head is already killing her!

Eric is processing the scene of a DB in a bar. The bar owner has left the night before and the place was empty. When the owner arrived this morning, there was a body across the bar. Eric has already talked with the owner and he has no idea who the vic is. Eric looks at his watch again. Where is Calleigh? It's not like her to be late. He isn't sure why "H" thought that Ryan needed to tag along on this case. Eric knows he and Calleigh can handle it just fine. That is if she ever gets here. Eric has this twinge of something he can't place, but tries to tell himself that he's being ridiculous. So she's a little late. No reason to worry……….

Calleigh is beginning to waver in consciousness and knows she has got to stay alert. She's checked everywhere in her car and can't find anything to break the window and get out. She's fought the doors until her shoulder hurts and she's getting more lightheaded. She decides that maybe she should call Horatio or Eric and let someone know. What the heck is taking the paramedics so long? She decides that since she is supposed to meet Eric and Ryan, she'll call Eric. She thinks maybe hearing his voice will keep her from panicking…………IF she can keep him from having a come apart. She dials the number and waits for him to answer.

Eric grabs his phone and looks at the ID, knowing it's Calleigh. He flips the phone up with a smile and says, "Hey Cal, you having a bad hair day? Where are you?" Calleigh all of a sudden feels like she is going to cry. In the moment she takes to swallow the lump in her throat, Eric senses something is wrong. "Calleigh? What's wrong?" Eric says in a much more serious voice. Calleigh tries to rush it all out before he can panic, "Eric, I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you I'll be late. The bridge washed out on Hwy. 59 and I went off the bridge……." Eric interrupts her, "Went off the bridge? Calleigh are you hurt? Tell me what happened!" Calleigh feels herself getting short of breath again. "Eric, I called you to be my voice of calm. Please don't come apart on me. I'm not hurt I don't think. I just can't get out of the car and……." Eric whirls around and motions to Ryan that he'll be back and runs to his car with Ryan shouting at him to find out where he is going. "Calleigh, did you just tell me you can't get out of your car? You're at the bridge on Hwy 59 right? Have you called 911?" Calleigh leans her head back against the seat reminding herself to slow her breathing down. "Eric, I have called 911. They should be here any second. Just talk to me until they get here OK?" Eric feels the beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Calleigh, I'm on my way. Talk to me. Tell me exactly what happened," he says in the most calm voice he can muster. Calleigh tells him each detail she can manage and Eric drives faster because her voice is fading more by the second. "Calleigh, how high is the water?" Calleigh gasps for breath and says, "It's up to my chest." Tries to laugh, "My hair is floating, Eric." Eric sucks in his breath and drives even faster. "Calleigh, is your head hurting?" Calleigh wonders how Eric knows she has a headache. Man, it's all so fuzzy. She wonders what that incessant noise is……."Calleigh! Calleigh!" Eric is shouting at her. "Calleigh! I hear the sirens! The paramedics are there! Can you see them?" Calleigh fights to stay awake……."Eric, they are so loud, can you tell them to be quiet?" Eric fights a wave of nausea. He's losing her. He can't do this, Not again. Not someone else he cares about. One of the main reasons he started swimming was because of _her_…..he'd never told anyone. And now Calleigh was trapped in a car with water rising and the possibility of drowning being the biggest fear. "Calleigh! Can you hear me? Talk to me!" He shouts at her. She isn't responding at all now. "Calleigh!" Her phone loses signal and Eric shouts and throws his phone down. He's go to get to Calleigh!

_More to come…._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Don't own any of these characters, wish I could find a way to have Warrick……….but not this day.

**Author's notes:** Thanks for the reviews! Please keep them coming! It helps to know people are actually reading this! I usually write Warrick/Catherine so this is a new venture for me.

_Chapter 2_ Bridging the Gap 

Eric arrives to the scene right as the paramedics are hitting the water. In almost a panic, he rushes past the forming crowd, flashes his badge to the officer and goes straight into the water to help the paramedics get Calleigh out. They break the back window and easily slide Calleigh out onto the backboard. Eric keeps saying her name over and over and is relieved that her face didn't go totally underwater, but very scared because she isn't answering him either. As they strap her to the backboard, Eric grabs a side to help them get her out of the water and gets a good look at her pale face. "Calleigh, can you hear me? Answer me Cal." She stirs just the slightest and Eric's heart beats faster. They load her on the ambulance and he jumps in behind her. They start hooking her up to the monitor, and cutting off her wet clothes to do the assessment. Eric almost wonders if he needs to turn his head because Calleigh would be mortified about them cutting off all of her clothes with him watching, but he can't bear to look away. Part of it is due to the fact that he quickly realizes her underwear and bra match her shirt perfectly and he is more attracted to her the more they remove. Even more than that at the moment is the fact that Eric needs to see that Calleigh is all in one piece and not hurt. She has a big gash on her forehead that is going to need stitches, but otherwise looks OK. Eric knows that head wounds bleed a lot so he is trying to keep his panic from rising about all the blood. He reaches out and takes her free hand and just rubs her hand. She's stirring a little, but hasn't opened her eyes at all to his voice. His cell phone rings and he realizes he doesn't even remember picking it up from when he threw it in the seat. He sees that it's Horatio and knows he is going to be in trouble for not calling him already. He answers the phone and hears Horatio say, "Eric, what in the world is going on? Ryan said Calleigh called and you took off. Is everything OK?" Eric wonders why he still sounds so freaking calm. "H, I need you to meet me at the hospital. The bridge was out and Calleigh's car went off into the water. We got her out, but she's got a big head lac and hasn't regained consciousness." There is dead silence on the phone. "H, you there?" Horatio says in a much more stilted tone, "I'm here, Eric. I'll meet you at the hospital. Do I need to take Ryan by to pick up your car?" Eric hasn't even thought about the car. Leave it to his levelheaded boss to think of everything. "Yeah, that would be great. I don't guess you'd drive my car and let Ryan drive the Hummer huh? I don't want that guy in my car." Horatio gave a half laugh, "No, Eric, not a chance. We'll see you at the hospital."

They pulled into the hospital and as they were opening the back doors to unload Calleigh, Eric felt her squeeze his hand. He looked down and she was looking at him. She still looked groggy, but she smiled, "Delko, you're wet, guess you forgot your wetsuit for this rescue." Eric smiled back and always getting the one up and forgetting that she was hurt popped off, "Yeah, Duquesne and you're naked underneath that blanket……nice matching underwear." Calleigh's eyes got huge and she tried to raise up. "Whoa! Calleigh you can't get up! You're strapped down and have a head gash. They were discreet and you're covered…….it's fine! It was a bad joke!"

Calleigh gave him a mock glare, 'You should have turned your head Eric." Eric flashed his big grin, "I couldn't help myself Calleigh. The view was too majestic to turn away. That might've been a once in a lifetime." Before Calleigh could respond they wheeled her through the doors. "I'll be right outside Cal!" Eric yelled after her.

Eric made his way to the waiting area they directed him to about the time Ryan, Horatio, and Yelina came through the doors. "Wolfe did you wreck my car?" Eric said. Ryan rolled his eyes, "Come on Delko. I didn't start driving yesterday." Horatio steps in between his arguing boys and asks how Calleigh is doing. Eric tells them she woke up as they were getting her out and actually talked to him coherently. He didn't mention WHAT the conversation was.

After what seemed like hours, a young Dr. comes out to the group. He tells them that amazingly enough Calleigh is going to be fine. He has sewn up the laceration on her forehead and all of her X-rays and the Head CT Scan were clear. He tells them she is groggy, but should be able to go home soon. Dr. O'Neill tells them that she is asking for Eric. Ryan steps back and rolls his eyes. Yelina tells Eric to be sure and tell Calleigh they are all there. Horatio says nothing, just nods for Eric to go ahead.

Eric walks in to see Calleigh sitting up in bed, drinking a Sprite. "How ya doing, Calleigh?" Eric speaks softly as he walks up and takes her hand. "I'm fine. Thank you for coming to my rescue. Even if you DID watch them cut my clothes off." Eric smiles and squeezes her hand. "This is not going to be the best time to bring this up then, but you aren't staying alone tonight. Not with that nasty bump." Calleigh sighs, "Eric, the CT Scans were normal. I'm fine. I want to sleep in my own bed." Eric shrugs, "Fine. I don't mind sleeping on your sofa." Calleigh leans her head back, "I'm not going to win this one am I?" Eric flashes his smile, "Nope. Not a chance. You're stuck with me tonight." Calleigh laughs and says, "You'd better watch out. I may come and cut your clothes off while you are asleep." Eric laughs and raises his eyebrows, "You go ahead hotshot, but you may get more than you bargained for."

They both smiled and the rest of the CSI's slipped in the door. Calleigh looks at Horatio. "Sorry I was late Horatio." Horatio smiles his easy smile. "I'll let this one pass ma'am." Ryan pops up with a grin and says, "And for the record, _ma'am_, you weren't late, you were a no show!" The whole group laughed and the nurse came in for papers to sign so Calleigh could be released. The nurse tells Calleigh that she really needs someone to stay with her tonight. About the time Eric says, "I am.", Ryan and Yelina both say, "I can stay with her." Calleigh says, "Thanks guys, but Eric has already invited himself to sleep on my couch." Ryan glares at Eric who sticks his chest out at him.

Eric gets Calleigh home and feeds her pizza that he's ordered and gets her situated in her bed and sits down on the bed beside her. Eric reaches out to take her hand, "All joking aside, Calleigh. You scared the hell out of me today. I'm glad you are OK." Calleigh let her hand rest in his. "Can I ask you something Eric? And please be honest?" Eric shrugs and says, "Sure." Calleigh looks right in his eyes, "What exactly scared you so bad today? The minute I said I was in the water, you lost it. I was expecting you to be calm and you were as freaked out as I was." Eric kind of pales, but tries to play it off. "I was 10 miles away and couldn't get to you. It scared me." Calleigh shook her head. "No, Eric. There was sheer panic in your voice. There was more. I asked you to be honest." Eric looks away and when he looks back into Calleigh's eyes, he knows that for the first time in years, he is going to have to talk about it. He fights the nausea rising in his throat. "You're right. There is more. And I haven't told anyone about it." Calleigh reaches up and touches his cheek. "Tell me, Eric." Eric struggles to even speak and when he does it is barely above a whisper. "I've been joked about being the baby around the crime lab, I've been joked about being the baby of my family. Well, the only reason I am the baby in my family is because my baby sister died. Calleigh gasps. "What? How?" Eric looks out the window of her room and is almost in a daze.

"I was 6 years old. My family was at the lake and one of my older sisters wanted to go down to the boat. Emma was 3 years old and she wanted to go too. My sister told her no and I told her I would go with her in just a minute. I wasn't supposed to go down there by myself either, but I thought maybe if I promised Emma that would keep her happy for a while. I saw a frog and started chasing it. I yelled for Emma to come and look at it, but I was so enthralled with the frog that I didn't realize that she didn't come. I don't know how long I chased the frog before I caught the stupid thing. I turned to go back to show Emma and realized that she wasn't standing there anymore. Mom came out of the camper and asked me where she was. I knew before my feet even took off that she had followed my sister down to the water. I told my Mom that I thought she was with Eliza, but I was panicking at the same time because I wasn't sure. I took off running toward the water." Eric sucked in a sob and Calleigh , already crying, reaches up and takes Eric's other hand, squeezing them both.

Eric tried to catch is breath and control the emotions. "I was much faster than Mama was. I saw her before I ever got to her. She was face down in the water. She looked just like Eliza did when she'd do the dead man's float and I kept praying and screaming for Emma to get up and stop goofing off. To this day, I have no idea if I was screaming it out loud or just in my head. About the time I got to the water, I heard my Mama screaming, Eliza running out ahead of me screaming and she and I pulled Emma up. She was already blue." Eric allowed the tears to flow unashamed and as the sobs came, Calleigh reached up and pulled him in her arms. "When I heard the water was up to your chest Calleigh, all I could think about was Emma. And how I was just going to die if I couldn't get to you in time." Calleigh's tears were falling on his head as she held him in her arms. " It's OK Eric. You got to me in time. You helped save me and I'm fine. I'm so sorry about your baby sister."

_More to come…..reviews help it move faster!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine although if I could find a way to get Eric or Warrick, I'd be all over that!

**Author's Notes:** Sorry this has been so incredibly long in getting finished. My computer crashed and I was without one for a month and have been slowly getting back in the swing of things with the new one! Everyone owes my friends on Talk:CSI on the Eric and Calleigh shipper thread a thank you for me getting this finished! They were constantly on me to finish it! Hope it was worth the wait!

_Chapter 3 – Final Chapter –Maybe ;-)_

**Bridging the Gap**

Calleigh cries softly letting her tears fall into Eric's hair. She cannot imagine the times they have worked drowning scenes and scenes with children and scenes with siblings and how hard each and every one of them must have been for Eric. He probably relived Emma's death every time. Calleigh turns Eric's chin up to her, "Have you told Horatio about Emma?" Eric shakes his head. "I've never told anyone, not even Speed. I can't talk about it and I never want anyone to think it affects my job as a CSI." Calleigh reaches her hand up to touch his cheek, "Eric, you are an incredible CSI and people knowing about Emma would never change that." She reaches up and wipes a tear sliding down Eric's cheek. Eric tries to apologize for dumping all this on Calleigh and she tells him that it makes her feel special because he felt like he could share it with her. Eric shakes his head and laughs a small, sad laugh, "Calleigh, you have no idea how special you are." Before she can respond, Eric leans over and lightly kisses her lips. Calleigh feels her heart jump and restrains from reaching over and pulling him to her again. Eric is simply watching her to gage her reaction. Calleigh sighs, "Eric, this is so complicated." Eric nods his head and gets up to give her space. He tells her he'll get her some more Tylenol for her head and walks off to the kitchen.

Calleigh thinks that her heart may beat right out of her chest. She knows in her head that getting involved with Eric could be really bad for their jobs. She knows that Horatio wouldn't be thrilled about it and Ryan would have a fit, but all she could think about while she couldn't get out of the car was getting in touch with Eric. She realized today just how much she cares about him and thinks that maybe it is time she quit running from that. If she had died today, Eric would have had no idea how she felt and that makes her heart want to break in to.

Eric comes back with the Tylenol and some juice. He hands it to Calleigh and watches her face. "What's wrong Cal? Should I apologize for kissing you?" She looks up and smiles at Eric, "Are you sorry?" Eric laughs out loud and shakes his head. "Absolutely not. I want to do it again." Calleigh reaches out and takes his hand. "A relationship could be bad for our job, huh? That's what my head keeps telling me." Eric rubs her hand, "What does your heart tell you Calleigh?" Calleigh looks into Eric's eyes and raises an eyebrow, "Are you sure you want to know?" Eric grins and says, "I'm sure." Calleigh looks down, takes in a deep breath, looks back up at Eric and says in almost a whisper, "I am in love with you Eric Delko." Eric sucks in his breath and tries to remember to breathe. His finger stops midstream from rubbing her hand. When Eric doesn't respond immediately, Calleigh begins to think she has said too much or the wrong thing and messed everything up. She gets up from her bed and walks over to the window pulling her hand away from his. To her back, Eric is finally able to speak, "Calleigh, I never in a million years thought I'd hear you say that. Please don't walk away. I'm just speechless. I feel the same way you do, I just really thought it was all me." He gets up and goes to her. He turns her around to see tears, "I love you, Calleigh. I have for a long time. I just tried to fight it getting in the way of work." Calleigh looks at him and says, "And now?" Eric chokes up, "And now………I could have lost you today and you have no idea how much love I have in my heart for you. I never intend to let that happen again. We'll make it work on the job and the rest of them can either deal with it or fold their hand. I'm done. I'm finished running from what I feel. I love you and don't want to waste any more time running away from it." He looks down at her in her silky white gown she has on and thinks his heart might just explode from the love and desire. While he is trying to get himself under control, Calleigh makes that impossible because she steps up to him and slides her hands up under his shirt and around his back and hugs him. "We have both run and look where we ended up? In each other's arms." Eric pulls her tightly too him and says, "This is only the beginning Calleigh. I've only started bridging this gap." He lifts up her chin and kisses her slowly, deeply, and tenderly. "I've waited a long time to do that, Cal." Calleigh smiled into his eyes, "And it was even better than I'd imagined all the times I've imagined it." Eric grins and says, "Ummm, does this mean I don't have to sleep on the couch?"

Calleigh reaches up to touch his lips with her thumb, "Take me to bed Eric. You're staying right here."


End file.
